— — — — — —
Eastern Europe — The Warlord's Empire
Within the stronghold of the Warlord's Empire, one of the most powerful vampire noblemen of the past century—Dimitrie Vatler—was calmly sitting in front of a screen, video chatting with none other than the head of Japan's Lion King Agency.
Dressed in a powder-blue tailored suit, golden-haired and blue-eyed, he looked like the picture-perfect definition of a noble vampire as he chuckled lightly:
"Hm? So the Lion King Agency replaced one of the Three Saints. That's... quite a shame. Right, Koyomi Shizuka?"
On the other end of the call was a girl who appeared to be no older than fourteen. Braided hair, black-rimmed glasses, plain features—someone you might mistake for just another middle-schooler. But that appearance was deceiving.
Each of the Three Saints of the Lion King Agency carried unique legacies, and it was said that Koyomi Shizuka could inherit the spiritual power of every previous generation.
In other words, this seemingly unassuming girl had generations' worth of accumulated power sealed inside her. Combined with the Agency's... special techniques, it was said she might even pose a threat to a Primogenitor.
But that's a lie... after all, the Three Primogenitors didn't dominate the world just because of their Familiars.
It was their bottomless experience, battle prowess refined over centuries, vast magical energy, and their terrifying immortality that made them virtually untouchable.
The founder of the Warlord's Empire—the First Primogenitor, the Lost Warlord—was one such monster. Even someone like Vatler, who was arguably Primogenitor-level himself, had no choice but to stay hidden under his shadow.
Koyomi might be strong enough to be a threat to Vatler. But the Warlord? Not a chance.
"Enough small talk," Koyomi said flatly, her tone devoid of emotion.
This man, nicknamed Ophiuchus, had a reputation for devouring two Elder vampires. The regret he just voiced? Likely disappointment that he didn't get the chance to fight and drink the blood of the previous Hien Koyomi.
Anyone who believed he had a friendly relationship with her predecessor would probably end up as his appetizer.
Pushing up her glasses, Koyomi got straight to the point.
"The Management Bureau of Itogami Island has requested we pass along this message to the Warlord's Empire."
Her tone tightened slightly.
"The Twelfth Kaleid Blood has awakened. It is currently on Itogami Island and has officially declared that the Blazing Banquet will be held there."
Vatler's brows shot up in surprise.
"Oh? Number Twelve's awake already? Was it Natsuki who retrieved it?"
He wasn't exactly in the dark about this. The Twelve Doll had been sealed away on Gozo Island for years—Liana Caruana had found out, so of course Vatler knew.
He also knew that the international conglomerate MAR had worked with Liana for years trying to extract that very Kaleid Blood.
More importantly, he knew that Number Twelve wasn't just any Familiar—it was the doll that held the original soul of the Fourth Primogenitor. Its awakening meant the original soul was fully revived.
Just recently, Vatler had sent Natsuki to Gozo Island to track down remnants of the Black Death faction—specifically, Golan Hazaroff.
So connecting the dots wasn't hard: Natsuki had taken the doll with her.
But…
Did she just double-dip me?
She grabbed the Twelfth doll, screwed over the MAR group and claimed a 30-million bounty from one of my subordinates for handing over Golan's corpse?
Seriously, how shameless can one witch be?
"..."
Koyomi didn't respond to Vatler's guess. Instead, she continued with professional coldness. "As per regulations, the host of the Blazing Banquet is required to share key intel with all relevant parties."
She paused, then added. "The Twelfth Kaleid Blood now manifests as a black-haired, black-eyed male, with a striking appearance and a strong, defined sense of self."
"…You're kidding, right?" Vatler blinked.
He knew what Number Twelve looked like. Small frame, golden hair, piercing blue eyes. A beautiful young woman, elegant and charismatic.
Those records were kept in the Warlord's Empire archives. No mistake about it.
And the Lion King Agency had to have the same intel.
So what were they doing? Fishing for a reaction?
Koyomi spoke again, tone still cool. "This individual summoned the Familiar 'Azure Ice Princess' in front of multiple witnesses. He froze the ruins of Gozo Island and killed Golan Hazaroff on the spot."
Vatler's expression twitched slightly. For a moment, he looked… awkward.
Wait… so Number Twelve is the one who killed Golan?
And Natsuki cashed in the corpse for my money...?
Goddamn, Witch of the Void… you really played me.
Still smiling, Vatler replied smoothly, "Well, if he can control the Twelfth Familiar, then that proves his identity. Maybe Her Majesty, the fourth primogenitor, got bored and decided to change forms. After all, she was designed to have that ability from the start."
Yup—the Fourth Primogenitor had been created artificially. A weapon forged by the Three Primogenitors and the ancient devas.
So yeah—changing forms, even gender, wasn't out of the question.
But… even if that was true, this transformation didn't feel right. It didn't seem like the original soul decision.
Something about it didn't sit well with Vatler.
Narrowing his eyes, he said with a chuckle, "I'll be overseeing the Blazing Banquet for the Warlord's Empire. From the Second Primogenitor's side, it'll likely be Prince Iblisveil Aziz."
"Add the human arms dealer in the Ghoul Territory, the Nelapsi Autonomous Region, plus whoever the Third Primogenitor sends, and whoever's possibly backing Number Twelve…"
"Looks like the game's officially on."
Koyomi responded dryly, "Then we'll host the Banquet on Itogami Island, two days from now. We look forward to your arrival."
With that, she ended the call. Clearly, she had no interest in spending more time with Vatler than necessary.
Vatler walked over to the window and looked out over the distant horizon.
"Oh dear," he chuckled. "Said a bit too much there. The old man hasn't even decided who's attending yet."
Just then, a knock on the door.
A male attendant entered, speaking calmly:
"Duke Vatler, the arms dealer Balthazar Zaharias has launched an attack on the Second Primogenitor's territory. He stole Number Seven and Number Eleven. Their whereabouts are unknown."
"Well, well. Someone's getting desperate."
Vatler shrugged, still smiling.
"Looks like I'll be running into a very annoying mutt."
— — —
Meanwhile — The Chaos Zone in Central America
In a luxurious palace, a green-haired woman with a wild, feral charm leaned back in her chair, legs crossed, listening to her subordinates report.
"Oh? So Number Twelve's taken a male form?"
Her eyes lit up with interest.
"Now that's not something the original soul would've done... Looks like someone interesting has joined the game."
Nervously, her aide continued to report on the arms dealer's recent theft.
"Huh, so the Second Primogenitor lost two Familiars? Pfft. Bet that cranky old hag's throwing a fit at home right about now."
Third Primogenitor, The Chaos Bride— Giada Kukulcan, laughed gleefully, then clapped her hands and stood.
"Round up all our Familiars. I'm heading to Japan myself~"
"Your Majesty?!" her subordinate gasped, trying to stop her—but before he could finish the sentence, Giada vanished from the throne room.
"...We're doomed," the aide muttered blankly.
— — —
Itogami Island
As evening fell, the island came alive. During the day, most residents were at work, but now the streets bustled with energy.
Inside her apartment, Natsuki glanced at the man meditating peacefully on her couch.
Out of sheer politeness, she asked, "You planning to handle dinner yourself?"
No response.
She rolled her eyes and gave up, heading toward her favorite local restaurant.
But just as she reached the door, she paused.
"Wait… where's the food magazine I left here earlier?"
She definitely remembered placing it on the table.
That's when a small voice whispered from the shadows cast by the setting sun. "Ryo, Ryo, get up! I wanna eat this thing called 'ice cream'! I feel a connection with it."
Still mid-meditation, Ryo opened one eye, sighed, and glanced at the floating magazine hovering in front of him, opened to a page full of desserts.
"Eat real food first. Then you can have dessert."
"…Okay."
Avrora's voice sounded small and disappointed from within his shadow.
Then she added casually, "Oh, and Cyrora said she wants fresh virgin blood tonight. She told you to go find some."
Ryo's eyes popped open. "Seriously? Why doesn't she just bite her own arm?!"
"....."
Dead silence.
Both Avrora and Natsuki stared at him like he'd lost his mind.
A moment later, Avrora tried to recover.
"Cyrora told me to scold you. So... RAAWR!"
She popped out of his shadow, pulling a silly face—only to immediately get scooped up by the back of her neck like a misbehaving cat.
Ryo stood up, holding her in one hand while slipping the other into his pocket. He casually strolled over to Natsuki, who was now staring at him, stunned.
"Come on," he said softly. "Time for a nice little family dinner. And you're paying."
Natsuki: "..."
The fearsome Witch of the Void now found herself dragged into a daily life of pure, relentless exploitation.
A scam? A robbery? Some twisted evolution of kidnapping? She felt more miserable day by day.
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